Students praised for aiding storm victims

NETHER PROVIDENCE -- Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools Superintendent Richard Noonan recently received a call of thanks from the principal of a Jersey shore school so badly battered by Superstorm Sandy that its students have been temporarily displaced.

The school, Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School, is located in Seaside Heights, where the damage was so significant that photos of a boardwalk roller coaster now resting in the waves has become emblematic of the storm's devastating toll.

Its principal wanted to convey gratitude for a donation of $1,600 raised by Wallingford Elementary School students and staff to benefit a fellow school in a time of need.

"I pointed out to the gentleman that the (Wallingford-Swarthmore) superintendent of schools certainly didn't have a lot to do with the extraordinary effort" undertaken at Wallingford Elementary to raise the money, Noonan said, adding that second-grade teacher Sue Gaur "rallied the whole school."

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For seven years now, Gaur has coordinated an annual "milk stand" for charity.

It takes place around Thanksgiving and involves students buying a snack of a cup of milk and a chocolate chip cookie for $1. The milk is donated by faculty and staff and the cookies by parents.

This year, the decision was made to send the proceeds to a school impacted by Sandy, and Hugh J. Boyd was chosen as the recipient.

Noonan said the hope is the money will help the school in some small way to "get back on its feet."

Meanwhile, students at Wallingford Elementary have used artwork to try and lift the spirits of students from a school not far from Seaside Heights, Lavallette Elementary School, who have likewise been relocated until their facility can be repaired from Sandy-related damage.

For the "WES Giving Project," students used a painting by Jasper Johns called "Three Flags" for inspiration.

The school's art teacher, Sarah Ryan, redrew the painting on white paper, cut it up into squares and let each student color in a square -- using crayons, glitter crayons and markers -- according to the part of the flag they were working on.